August 09, 2017

Nadeem Muhammad Found Guilty of Carrying IED on Plane

Nadeem says someone else planted the bomb in his suitcase and he really was not a suicide bomber. Nadeem is FOS.

Nadeem Muhammad, 43, attempted to board a flight to Italy with a viable pipe bomb in his hand luggage on January 30 this year.

The bomb, built inside a sealed marker pen barrel, was designed to be activated manually – meaning it could not have been detonated remotely or automatically.

The prosecution argued that the only reason for Muhammed to take the device through airport security was to detonate it in the confined space of the plane, endangering the lives of passengers while causing serious damage to the aircraft.

Manchester Crown Court heard that security staff had initially believed the bomb was not viable, and Muhammed was released after being questioned by counter terrorism officers.

He was able to board a flight to Bergamo in Italy five days later – but subsequent forensic examination of the device found that the bomb could have been viable.

Muhammad, who was born in Pakistan but had an Italian passport, was arrested again at the first opportunity on February 12.

But hey he's mostly peaceful when he's not trying to kill himself and fellow passengers. Really!

The conviction comes as British authorities work to prevent another attack in the wake of dozens of fatalities after terrorists struck in London and Manchester last spring. In the 12 months up to March, police arrested 304 people on terrorism charges, the highest since 2001, according to Home Office statistics.